Leadership Team

Real Estate Equities’ property management team in St. Paul, Minnesota, is comprised of experienced and educated professionals that have dedicated themselves to the management and branding of multifamily housing.

William R. Bisanz, M.B.A

Prior to joining Real Estate Equities, his professional experience included several years in New York City as a business strategy consultant for various global financial services companies. Prior to that he worked in Madrid, Spain for the United States Foreign Service.

Bill received his Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University in New York, where he graduated with the highest honors.

Pete Busse, CPA, MBA

Chief Financial Officer

As Chief Financial Officer of Real Estate Equities, Pete Busse is responsible for the leadership and oversight of property accounting, corporate accounting and asset management. Pete brings years of experience in real estate including accounting, finance, taxes, complex structures, asset management, cash flow and insurance. He also brings experience in the development process, construction, asset acquisition & disposition.

Pete has a Bachelor’s degree in accounting, a Master’s of Business Administration and is an active Certified Public Accountant.

Laurie Flum

Vice President of Administration

Laurie joined Real Estate Equities in 1983. Throughout her 35 year career she has been promoted to Controller of Real Estate Equities (2002), Assistant VP of Technology (2007) and was promoted to her current role of VP of Finance in 2013. She is experienced in multiple accounting packages including Peachtree, Quick Books, YARDI, VPRO, Solomon, Great Plaines and miscellaneous others. Laurie also has great knowledge of many aspects of Property Management accounting including complex reporting, multi-leveled finance packages, rehab, new construction, lease-up phase, compliance, and refinances.

Laurie is responsible for the set-up of systems and tools allowing staff to reach goals and maintain required work responsibilities. She is also the asset manager for 10 multi-million dollar homes located around the world where she oversees all aspects of managing, leasing, capital repairs and financing of homes including restructuring bank loans, selecting insurance needs and working with auditors at year end.

Stefanie L.B. Sokup

Vice President of Marketing

Stefanie joined Real Estate Equities in 2014. Working directly with investors and owners for ten plus years, her professional expertise is in the areas of leasing, acquisitions, renovations, floor plan design, marketing and lease-up, third party management and asset management.

Previous to Real Estate Equities, Stefanie worked for a national multi-family developer where she was an integral part of development/acquisitions, growing the regional portfolio by 150%. Stefanie helped to acquire 10 third party management contracts in the Twin Cities and Chicago and was involved in the ground up design and development of 9 new construction or historic rehab projects located in the Twin cities, Chicago, Ann Arbor, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. Prior to entering the multi-family housing industry she received her Master of Science Degree in Hospitality and Tourism from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Patrick Ostrom

Development Partner

Patrick joined Real Estate Equities in 2016 and has extensive experience in real estate development. Prior to joining Real Estate Equities Patrick worked for a national affordable housing developer where he was the project manager for a number of housing developments throughout the country. He has experience with acquisition/rehabs, new construction and adaptive reuse development projects consisting of nearly 2,000 apartment units and over $500 Million in total development costs.

As a Development Partner at Real Estate Equities Patrick is responsible for the project management and construction oversight of the development activities.

Alex Bisanz

Director of Acquisitions

Mr. Bisanz grew up in St. Paul, MN and has been involved in the real estate industry for more than 11 years. He attended the University of Colorado at Boulder where he received a BS in Business Management and graduated in 2004.

Prior to his employment with Real Estate Equities, he worked for three years with Interstate Partners, a regional commercial real estate development firm where he developed more than 500,000 SF of office and industrial real estate. At Real Estate Equities, Mr. Bisanz is responsible for Project Management, Structuring Debt & Equity Financing, Managing the Construction Process, Market Feasibility and Financial Analysis.

Barb Ransom

Director of Property Operations

Barb is a long-standing member of MHA and more recently IAA. With twenty plus years in the multi-family housing industry, Barb brings to Real Estate Equities a strong sense of personal clarity, vision, and experience to an ever-growing and transforming field.

Currently, Barb is responsible for all aspects of rental property management for a portfolio that consists of market rate, senior, and affordable housing within Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Her professional experience also includes student housing and receivership management. Barbs expertise is transitioning struggling assets to perform better operationally and financially.

Barb has great success maintaining the highest level of integrity for the Ownerships and Management Teams while ensuring their visions and goals are met. She is passionate about providing quality housing for all and demonstrates this value with her dedication to the industry.

Jode Frick Formiller

Human Resources Director

Jode joined REE in 2016. She has degrees in HR Development and Business Administration along with her PHR and SHRM-CP HR credentials. Prior to REE she worked in the Human Services field for Not-For-Profit, Government and For-Profit companies.

As the head of HR, Jode works closely with all departments to ensure the highest level of excellence in recruitment, training, compliance and employee retention. Her passion is to develop and empower employees to make REE the industry leader.

Terrence E. Troy, C.P.M

Chairman & Co-Founder

Mr. Troy grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. He graduated from St. Thomas Military Academy and from Dartmouth College. In 1972 he formed Real Estate Equities with Robert Bisanz to offer real estate partnership investments and property management. Together they created and managed investments in over 10,000 units of apartment properties. He has been active in a variety of local charitable organizations including Young Life, The Johnson Institute and is currently Chairman of The Retreat in Wayzata, MN. Seeing through supposedly “unsolvable problems” is his passion.

“The solution already exists…so we just need to look deeper, and it will show up”.

Robert S. Bisanz, C.P.M

Board Member & Co-Founder

Mr. Bisanz grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota and graduated in 1961 from St. Thomas Military Academy. He attended Notre Dame University from 1961 to 1966, and took his BA degree in Business Administration at St. Thomas College in 1966. Mr. Bisanz entered the real estate industry in 1967, joining other members of his family in the Bisanz Brothers Development Company. Mr. Bisanz gained a wide range of real estate experience during the next five years: planning, financing, developing, and selling commercial, residential, and apartment properties. In 1972, Mr. Bisanz formed a partnership with Terrence E. Troy to enter the business of creating and managing investment real estate.